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Renovation work begins on Bascom Hall portico

August 10, 2004 By Dennis Chaptman

The white-columned Bascom Hall portico, an enduring symbol of the university, is getting a makeover.

Crews have begun a renovation of the building’s east portico, which looks out over the city from atop historic Bascom Hill.

The project will include work to repair damage to the wooden bases and capitals, or tops, of the portico’s six 22-foot-tall, bald-cypress columns and two rectangular half-columns.

Additionally, deteriorated Madison sandstone around the building’s main entrance, Bascom Hall’s front steps and lighting around the entrance will be replaced.

Campus officials enlisted the advice of experts at the Wisconsin Historical Society in planning for the project. Bascom Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Over the years, deteriorating caulk allowed moisture to seep into the bases and capitals of the columns, causing them to rot. Officials hope that the columns themselves — installed in 1916 following a fire at Bascom Hall — are still sound. That will be fully determined as work progresses and the columns can be examined more closely.

“It’s a restoration and, hopefully, not a complete replacement,” says Steve Harman, a project manager for UW–Madison Facilities, Planning and Management. “We hope not to have to replace the columns entirely.”

As part of the project, the floor of the porch located at the base of the columns will be sloped more steeply for better drainage, and new downspouts will be installed.

The stonework near the entrance also deteriorated over the years. Madison sandstone is a soft, porous material susceptible to such wear. It will be replaced with a more durable limestone nearly identical in color and texture to the existing stone, Harman says.

The restoration is budgeted to cost about $1.2 million. Plans call for the work to be completed in December.